Adolescent Reference Values for MR-Derived Biventricular Strain Obtained Using Feature-Tracking and Myocardial...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Pediatric Health

Background:

• Myocardial strain is a key indicator of early ventricular dysfunction in children.
• Myocardial tagging (MT) is the gold standard but is time-consuming.
• MR-feature tracking (FT) offers a more efficient alternative using standard cine sequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish sex-specific reference values for left and right ventricular strain in adolescents.
• To compare strain values derived from MR-feature tracking (FT) and myocardial tagging (MT).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study of 123 adolescents (aged 15-18 years) without cardiovascular disease.
• Utilized 3.0-T MRI with balanced steady-state free-precession for FT and spatial modulation of magnetization hybrid TFE-EPI for MT.
• Analyzed longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strain using Segment Medviso software.

Main Results:

• Significant sex differences in FT- and MT-derived strain values were observed for both ventricles.
• FT-derived LVLS and LVCS were higher in girls, as were MT-derived LVLS and LVCS.
• FT-derived LVRS was higher in girls, while MT-derived LVRS was higher in boys.

Conclusions:

• The study provides crucial sex-specific biventricular strain reference values for adolescents (15-18 years).
• MR-feature tracking (FT) demonstrates potential as a clinically useful method for pediatric strain assessment.
• Established reference ranges aid in the early detection of pediatric cardiovascular conditions.